


Multiverse Memories

by snapdragon76



Series: Aftermath [5]
Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman (Comics), Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Barbara Gordon is Batgirl, Batfamily (DCU), Conversations, DC Comics Rebirth, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Dick and Babs - Freeform, DickKori (mentioned), Domestic, Drinking & Talking, F/M, GrayBat, Jason Bard (mentioned), Multiverse, New 52, Nightwing and Batgirl, Oracle (mentioned), Post-Flashpoint (DCU), Prime Earth, dickbabs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-12
Updated: 2020-03-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:53:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23112007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snapdragon76/pseuds/snapdragon76
Summary: Dick and Barbara discuss some strange memories one morning. Or are they memories at all?
Relationships: Barbara Gordon/Dick Grayson
Series: Aftermath [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1566820
Comments: 2
Kudos: 29





	Multiverse Memories

**Author's Note:**

> This idea came about from a discussion on the Tumblr DickBabs Group Chat about how different people like different versions of certain characters and it doesn't invalidate their status as a fan. And, since the Multiverse is back into the picture again now that Convergence happened, people can enjoy one version of a character while others can enjoy another. 
> 
> So, this is a result of that.

Barbara woke to the sounds of bird song outside of her window. She cracked an eye open and saw the sun filtering through the curtains. It was the weekend and one of those rare mornings where she didn’t need to be anywhere in particular.

She rolled over and stretched her arms over her head. She and Dick had late patrol the night before, so getting to sleep in was a nice extra she rarely had. She reached over to the spot on the bed next to her and noticed it was empty. And the sheets were cool. Dick must be up and he’d been up for a while now. Soon, the smell of fresh coffee hit her nostrils and she knew he was in the kitchen.

Barbara tossed the covers off and sat up, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. She wiggled her toes in the soft plush of the carpeting. Ever since she regained her mobility, it was a ritual she did. She wanted to savor the feeling of the carpet fibers in between her toes. She did the same thing in the grass and on the sand as well. She knew her implant could short out and she’d be back in a wheelchair again, so she wanted to keep the sensations alive in her brain for as long as she could.

Barbara stood and stepped over to her dresser and pulled out a pair of sleep shorts. Ordinarily, she slept in a tank top and panties (and sometimes nothing at all on particularly amorous nights with Dick), but she wasn’t prone to lounging around the apartment in just her underwear. 

She made her way over to the kitchen and saw a fresh pot of coffee waiting along with a clean mug. Dick must’ve gotten it out for her when he got up. She poured herself a cup and added a little bit of cream and sugar and stirred it. She then wandered into the dining room where she saw Dick sitting at the table with his back to her. She stepped in behind him and gave him a kiss on the top of his head, amongst his mop of thick black hair.

“Morning sunshine,” she said as she took a seat next to him. He looked deep in thought and he didn’t reply. She looked at him quizzically.

Barbara placed a hand on his muscular bicep.

“Penny for your thoughts?” she said and gave his arm a squeeze.

He seemed to be roused from his thoughts.

“Hmm?” he muttered, looking towards her.

“Morning, babe. I didn’t hear you,” he told her and smiled slightly.

Barbara arched a copper-colored eyebrow, “Really? That’s a rarity. Usually, you can hear a cat sneeze from miles away.”

Dick smiled and took a sip of his coffee.

“Sorry, I was just lost in thought.”

She looked at him. His hair was a little disheveled (which it usually was anyway, but she kinda liked the wind-tousled look on him), and his normally bright blue eyes seemed a little distant. His brows were knit in deep concentration.

Barbara took his hand. “Is everything OK? You can talk to me, you know that, right?”

He squeezed her hand in return. “Yeah, I know…”

She turned to look at him in the eyes. “What’s wrong? You look troubled.”

Dick sighed, “I’m not sure. I know things are a little topsy turvy ever since my memories got sorted out between my actual memories and the implanted ones, but it seems like there’s something else. I can’t explain it.”

Barbara tucked her legs underneath her and took another sip of coffee.

“Well, maybe we can figure it out together,” she told him.

Dick turned and faced Barbara straight on.

“Well, you remember how when I first got my memories back and it was like there were two different lives trying to battle it out in my brain, and then you helped me by sorting out the real ones from the false ones?”

Barbara nodded. “Yes, I remember.” She did remember. She has an eidetic memory after all. He had come to her after his confrontation with the Joker and then his new squeeze, Punchline, and she’d helped set his memories straight after the Court of Owls attempted to brainwash him into being one of their assassins. They almost succeeded. 

“Now it’s like I keep having these dreams of another life. Not like it was before, with the Owls and stuff, but I’m still Dick Grayson, only another version of myself.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, her curiosity piqued.

“Like, in one I was adopted by Bruce at a younger age and trained to be Robin earlier and I was Robin for longer. Then I left to work with the Titans and became Nightwing when I was with them instead of on my own. In another one, we were in a post-apocalyptic era, with a young Bruce and you and I were underground freedom fighters and we had a daughter. Then there’s the one where we were both a little older than we are now and you were still Oracle and we’d gotten married…” he trailed off. He knew the topic of marriage for them was still a bit on the sensitive side. They’d only really talked about it once, after Bruce and Selina’s debacle of non-nuptials. 

Barbara had gone still. She had this strange sense of deja vu. She knew it wasn’t dreams he was having because she’d had a lot of the same ones. Different versions of her in different worlds. Much was still the same, but there were differences. 

She must’ve spaced out because she heard Dick calling her name.

“Babs?”

“Was there one where we were married with a son?” she asked him.

Dick’s eyes widened. “Yeah, there was. I was a reporter like Clark and you were a cop.”

Barbara’s face grew tighter. How could they both have the same dream? Were they dreams? They felt as if they were more realistic than dreams and that these things actually happened.

“I’ve been having the same thing. Like, I’m me, but a different version of me, with slightly different circumstances. Like, instead of my dad being my dad, he’s my uncle who adopted me, and I don’t have a brother. And I’m still in the chair,” she said quietly.

“Does that bother you?” Dick asked, concern on his handsome features.

“No. Chair or no chair, it doesn’t change who I am deep inside. I figured that out a while ago. But, I think I read something about this, about these different Earths, these… multiverses,” she told him.

“Multiverses?” Dick asked, looking puzzled.

“Yeah, where we’re not the only Earth in existence. There are these multiple worlds out there, where we each have different counterparts that live their own lives with a few differences here and there. Some where we’re older, some where we’re younger. Others where we have different life experiences, but we’re still fundamentally us. They all co-exist together with their own stories to tell,” Barbara explained.

Dick raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like something out of a science fiction novel or something.”

Barbara laughed, “Yeah, I suppose it does. Maybe we’re all connected somehow and that’s why we keep getting these flashes of memories from these other universes. Not enough to make us think it happened to this version of us, but just enough to know it happened. And when your memories got meddled with, it just made everything jumbled up, which led to more confusion.”

Dick smirked, “Yeah when all my memories came to me at once on that bridge, it was a mix of everything. Me being adopted by Bruce, my time as Robin, being with the Titans, being with Starfire, becoming Nightwing, being with you. Proposing…”

Barbara noticed he cut himself off after that last remark. She remembered a proposal as well, somehow more vivid than everything else. 

“We do seem to be drawn to each other, no matter when and where,” she said, taking another sip of coffee and looking down at the table. 

Dick placed a hand on her knee. “Yeah, we do, don’t we?”

There was a lot of uncertainty out there in the world. But one thing Barbara knew for sure, was Dick. He had told her when he was with Spyral that he’d always come back to her. When he was shot and lost his memories, she had tried to hold onto that feeling for as long as she could. She didn’t want to be plagued with self-doubt and uncertainty. But, after a time, she had wondered if it was best that she let go of the image of him and of them together. She’d even started contemplating a relationship with Jason Bard of all people. 

Suddenly he showed up again at her doorstep, wanting her help in sorting his memories. The real ones from the false ones. So she did. She didn’t want to get her hopes up that this had meant anything would change between them, especially since, as Ric, he was seeing someone.

He became a part of her life again, telling her he’d broken things off with Bea. That Bea had fallen for Ric, not Dick, and it wasn’t fair to her to try and be someone he wasn’t anymore. 

They started slow, as friends again. She decided to tell him of her feelings for him, and that even though they never got the timing right, she’d still love him. He said he always loved her, and they kindled what was never really started in the first place.

And to hear that there were other versions of themselves that were able to cut through all of the excuses and simply be together, it gave her a renewed sense of hope. If they can do it, so can we.

Barbara’s stomach grumbled. Dick smirked at her and gave her a knowing glance.

“Why don’t we fix some breakfast and then figure out what we’re going to do for the rest of the day?” he suggested.

She smiled, “Sounds like a good idea to me! I don’t know what we’ll do, but I’m sure we can think of something to occupy ourselves.”

A sly smile crept over Dick’s face. 

“I can think of something we could do…”

Barbara smiled in spite of herself.

“That’s a possibility…” she said, giving him a sly look of her own in return.

They got up from the table and walked to the kitchen, arms around each others’ waists.

“You know, in one of those multiverse flashes, I distinctly recall a costume I had worn that was pretty outrageous. It had a large collar and gold highlights. It was something else,” Dick commented.

“Oh really? I would like to have seen that,” she returned, giving his waist a squeeze.

**Author's Note:**

> C'mon. You knew I had to mention the Discowing suit, right?! It's iconic!
> 
> I made a few references to various other comic storylines in here as well as the current timeline. Some things I took a few creative liberties with, but I tried to stay within canon as much as possible.


End file.
